The top reported proficiency rate is 80% in Science. The lowest is 77% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Trails Elementary
Cedar Trails Elementary sits in the Issaquah School District, located in the southern portion of Sammamish. Sammamish is an affluent, mostly residential suburb on a plateau east of Seattle, bordered by Lake Sammamish to the west. It is a car-dependent community of single-family neighborhoods and strip shopping centers rather than a walkable downtown core. The city saw rapid suburban growth starting in the 1970s and 1980s and was incorporated in the 1990s after residents pushed back against county-level development policies. It is a commuter town: most residents travel to jobs in Seattle, Redmond, and Bellevue. Recent census estimates suggest a slight population decline from the 2020 count. The area remains among the wealthiest in Washington, with home values and rents that are well above both the state and national benchmarks.
Cedar Trails Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade. Its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school of its grade range. The student body is racially diverse, with the largest group being Asian students, followed by White students. Students who identify as two or more races, Hispanic, and Black each make up smaller shares of the population. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is low by national standards and consistent with the community's overall affluence. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or English learner support was not available in the source material; a parent may wish to follow up directly with the school on that point.
Academically, statewide test results from the most recent school year show strong performance across subjects. In math, proficiency rates were solid in third grade, dipped in fourth grade, and recovered to the school's typical level by fifth grade. A similar pattern appears in English language arts, where third and fifth graders posted high proficiency rates while fourth graders had a lower result. Fifth-grade science proficiency reached the same high mark as the school's strongest grade-level results. Because the data covers a single year, it is not possible to see whether the fourth-grade drop is a pattern or an anomaly. Taken together, overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects places this school in the top quartile among elementary schools in districts across King County. That is a reflection of a student body that is performing well relative to a highly resourced county.
The school belongs to the Issaquah School District, which as of the most recent school year had enrollment across all its schools that was somewhat lower than in prior years. The district has aging infrastructure and in early 2024 placed a large capital bond measure on the ballot to fund school construction, renovations, and safety upgrades; it was one of the biggest bond measures in state history. The outcome of that vote was not available in the source material. For families in the area, that bond outcome could affect future capacity and facility conditions at Cedar Trails and other district schools.
There are no high-stakes measures like a graduation rate at Cedar Trails because it is an elementary school. The school environment data, such as discipline statistics, course access, or staffing ratios, also was not available. A parent who wants a fuller picture of class sizes or enrichment offerings beyond standard academics would need to get that from the school or district directly.
This is a school in an affluent, stable suburb where housing costs are very high and the peer group is largely composed of families with above-average resources. The academic results are strong in most tested areas, with a one-grade dip in fourth grade that a parent might want to check on. For a family already living in or moving to southern Sammamish, Cedar Trails represents a consistently high-performing elementary option within a large district, set in a community that is quiet, residential, and oriented toward professional commuters.
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